Thoroughly pleasant and engaging holiday movie about a regular human-being adopted by elves, who sets out to find his biological father.

Despite the obvious outcome which is visible nearly from the outset, it remains a giddy, high-spirited comedy with a good amount of appeal permeating from the genial cast. One reason it comes off so smoothly is because Elf doesn’t simply content itself to appease the juvenile audience. While that is certainly where the movie is aimed, relying heavily on sight gags and goofy predicaments, it isn’t limited to stopping there; enough humor has been set aside to either go over the kids’ heads, or to find someplace in the middle to keep it consistent. And some of the fun totally rides on the coattails of being set in New York — probably the best place to set a Christmas movie in the U.S. — and making an experience out of it all. (Santa’s admonishment that, “There are 30 Ray’s Pizzas claiming to be the original. The real one’s on 11th,” or Will Ferrell’s incidents with taxicabs, or the local news reports on the “Ho, ho, hoax,” etc.) The movie’s ability to transition and meet halfway in its bargain is likely a direct link to Jon Favreau, in his directorial follow-up to Made (a puerile adult movie), who, while his acting is often quite childish, has been around long enough to know which notes to hit and where to hit them. And he knows that any aim beyond that, considering the fluff he’s directing, would melt as quick as a snowflake in San Diego. Pleasantries are also brought by the underused Zooey Deschanel, Mary Steenburgen, and a little bah-humbug from James Caan.